Tags: Disease.
Pica (/ˈpaɪkə/ PY-kə) is characterized by an appetite for substances largely non-nutritive such as ice clay chalk dirt or sand. According to DSM-IV criteria for these actions to be considered pica they must persist for more than one month at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate not part of culturally sanctioned practice and sufficiently severe to warrant clinical attention.
